GEORGE Osborne is set to launch a fresh assault on the poor and vulnerable in society with a plan to cut an extra £10billion from the welfare budget.

The Tory chancellor is due to outline savage cuts to welfare today at the Tory party conference in Birmingham. Osborne will claim he is more in touch with public opinion on welfare reform than Labour.

The chancellor will signal he has reached agreement with Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith after months of wrangling over the issue.

The £10billion cut is in addition to the £18billion reduction in welfare due before 2014 announced in the March budget.

Osborne will deny claims he is giving the rich tax breaks while punishing the poor. He will say top earners are paying more tax than they were under Labour but his attack on benefits will raise tensions in the Coalition.

LibDem leader Nick Clegg has warned the chancellor cannot balance the books on the backs of the poor.

The cuts will be driven through while rolling out Universal Credit and replacing benefits and support for disabled and long-term sick.